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Saturday, November 28, 2015

November 2015

Hello Friends!
I hope that if you are in the US you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you are reading this blog from somewhere else I hope that you are enjoying some lovely weather and the start of the holiday season. It has been in the upper 60's to 70 here. Rich and I had a nice hike before going over to my Mom's for dinner on Thursday. How did you spend your holiday?
I turned a year older the beginning of the month and Binx and Beau got me a card...

There was a lot of traveling with November. Binx thought he might want to go with me.

There was not enough room in my suitcase for him. I started the month in Detroit.

I had the chance to go to a Red Wings game.

They are building a new arena in Detroit so this may be the last season the Red Wings play at the Joe.

I was home long enough to have a craft night with my friends from Greensboro.

This was the project that we made. There are small white lights inside the bottle. We have plans to get together in December. I have missed these girls.

Then it was off on a two week trip that ended in Connecticut with Rich's family.

First stop....

Tulsa, OK.

So of course I had to stop here...

What an amazing shop. They have everything.

I think that I had sensory overload.

This is what I came home with.

I flew into Tulsa for an event in Ft. Smith, AR. It was my first trip to Arkansas. I am always happy when I can color in another state on my map.

I had the chance to run into the Fort and learn a little about the history of the area before heading back to Tulsa to travel to Providence.

This made ma smile the next morning at the airport. I always liked the Eric Clapton song "Living on Tulsa Time."

I had a nice view of Chicago when my flight landed at Midway.

I had the chance in Providence to catch up with my friend Ray for dinner. I didn't have time to do much else besides work at the site.

I left Providence and flew to San Diego, CA on Saturday morning and drove to Yuma, AZ from there. I could have spent Saturday in San Diego but I needed to do laundry so I just headed right to Yuma so that I could be in the same hotel for 2 nights and get some laundry done.

These are the Imperial Sand Dunes near Yuma. I have never seen anything like them. My friend told me that some of Star Wars was filmed on them.

I checked into my hotel and got my laundry done and my shopping done for my work event on Monday. So I had Sunday to explore....

I didn't know that Yuma had so much agriculture. The dates were amazing. I sent boxes to the family for the holidays.

I had to have a date shake...it was more like a blizzard. Yum!

So then I needed to hike...

I chose Telegraph Pass since it is a very popular trail that a lot of people use. See the antennas? That is where the trail goes.

It was a steep climb. It took awhile and some encouragement from a local hiker.

Made it!!

Signed in!

Then headed back down, showered and went to my friend Michelle's house for dinner.

Her husband makes amazing salsa and guacamole. I am so thankful for friends and family that take care of me while I am traveling, especially on the weekends. It was great to spend time with Michelle and her family.

After the event on Monday, I turned around and headed back to San Diego to catch a red eye to Newark and then to Portland, ME.

This schedule was crazy. It usually is not so bad. It was hard to sleep.

Here is an early morning picture from Newark airport. New York City is so close. When my flight left Newark I had amazing views of Manhattan.

And hello Portland, ME. Once I got to Portland I picked up a car and headed up to Bangor, ME checked into my hotel and took a nap for a couple of hours before meeting my friend Robin. We had dinner then headed to a painting class.

My friends and I have been wanting to do this at home but anytime I call the classes are full.

It was a lot of fun! I was worried that It would be hard but the teacher was great.

After the class Robin and I went and did the shopping for my event and to see Robin's new house. It was just way too short a visit.

The next morning before my event I stopped at the Bangor Maine Police Department to meet

The Duck of Justice.

The Bangor PD has a wonderful Facebook Page. Their humor and care for the community is wonderful. They make me homesick for Maine.

The event was right across the street from the Police Department and when it was over we went across the bridge to Brewer to a small place called The Eagle's Nest.

For a lobster roll.

It was amazing. They also had wonderful lobster stew.

After lunch we hopped in the car for a four hour drive to Marlborough, MA for an event the next day. I had 2 colleagues that rode with me and 2 others drove separately so of course when we got to MA we had to go out for dinner and we had some amazing Italian food in Worcester. Ugh... my diet!

After the event on Thursday in Marlborough I ended up not having to drive my colleagues to the airport in Boston and just headed down to Hartford so that I could pick Rich up the next day.

Wow, it was a tough couple of weeks of travel but I am thankful that I had the chance to see lots of friends along the way and that things worked out to have Thanksgiving with Rich's family.

I also had the chance to have coffee with Krista from Just Stitching Along and the Scarlet Letter year.

I did finish this little guy on one of the flights.

Rich is Mr. February in the 2016 Turbo Diesel Registry Calendar. This picture is from the bad snowstorm that we had in February. He is very happy.

No wonder time is flying by!

I hope to get some stitching done soon. I don't think that I will put up my tree. I am still afraid of Beau & Binx ruining my ornaments. I have some time off coming up so I may change my mind. I am looking forward to seeing friends and family.

So my friends, I hope to catch up with you all in the next month. I miss you and always appreciate you stopping by. Thanks as always for traveling with me.

13 comments:

Oh my goodness... I'm exhausted just reading about all the places you've been... you must have a bajillion frequent flyer miles...LOL! You've certainly seen a lot of this wonderful country. Isn't Yuma surreal? As a midwestern gal I was blown away when I visited there... the high winds could have had something to do with it too. Hope you have a nice relaxing break for Christmas... take care!

I don't know how you manage with all that traveling. However, you do get to see many wonderful sights and eat some great food! Plus, you do find some wonderful needlework shops. It is good hearing from you Chris!

Whew! Chris! How do you keep at it my friend?! I hope you get a bit of time at home for Christmas?Woo Hoo! Mr. February!And Woo Hoo to you for climbing that trail!!The date farm is so cool. I had no idea.

Wow Chris! I am exhausted just from reading about your November travels. I am glad that you are able to see family and friends while you are traveling for work. What wonderful adventures and pictures you have shared for November. Thinking of you!

Like others have said, I don't know how you do it! I would go nuts with all that traveling. It's so great that you manage to fit in the fun with the travel. A great way to handle all of it. I'm glad there were so many fun things mixed in!

Belated birthday wishes. I am amazed you could keep track of yourself with all the comings and goings. I love how you are able to get some sight seeing and fun things in with the travel. My travel is always, get there, work til you're too tired to do anything every night, go home. The Silver Needle? I am jealous!

Enough travelling for a year all condensed into one month! I envy you your Silver Needle visit - I've ordered from them a couple of times. My sister has been to Maine on two visits and loves the state - I know I'd love a lobster roll or two!

I always feel like I've been on a little mini trip reading your posts. I love the fact that you make the most of your travels and see and do so much wherever you may be. :) Love your cute little Santa finish and congratulations to Rich on being Mr. February!

I'm so glad to hear you will have some time off! My goodness girl. I am envious of how you can travel and go and do. Not everyone is confident enough - ME - to go through airports and car rentals and driving hours and sightseeing and LIVING!!! Good for you. Hope your birthday was a special one.

Wow, that was an eventful month for your with lots of traveling. How great that you can always meet friends here and there, enjoy some beautiful scenery and have an occasional hike. And it is so great that you take us with you on your travels. Thanks for sharing all these great pictures.